Most of my balcony drinks have been rather light-coloured and refreshing beverages. For a bit of variation, I brought out a more savoury and warming option this time: The lovely oatmeal stout Oaty of the Tarnów-based brewery Browar Trzech Kumpli (the guys of ‘Califia’). I did not regret that lovely change in flavour (I do regret the poor pun in the title).
But first of all, what is an oatmeal stout actually? The history of the beer style we know today as stout, began in 18th century Britain. Breweries at the time were forced to create dark, better quality beers, because the star of the hoppy pale ales was rising quickly and it was changing consumer preferences. To get rid of the overly sweet character of traditional dark ales, the beers were brewed with extra hops and were put to rest for a few months in their barrels. The dark and slightly sour ales (sourness from wild yeasts that were a necessary evil in those poor hygienic times) became very popular amongst the porters who had the hard task of getting goods on and off ships in the harbour. The beverage contained enough calories to keep them going and it was such a common drink for these hard workers that it took their name. And so the porter was born.
Brewers loved to push the alcohol level of these dark delights and soon there were strong porter varieties that were called ‘stout porters’. It was only a matter of time before the descriptive tag stood on its own and people started referring to the stronger porter variety as stout. According to official style guidelines, the difference nowadays lies in the fact that one of the ingredients of stouts should be roasted, unmalted barley. Nevertheless, the slightly sour porters are next to impossible to find nowadays and the distinction between porters and stouts does hardly stand.
Within the stout category, there are different versions, mostly depending on the use of certain ingredients, such as roasted malts, oats, rye, oyster shells, lactic acid and other additions. Stouts are also a popular style to age in barrels for a few months. These barrels have already done their service for aging other drinks such as whisky, bourbon, wine or other alcoholic beverages. The flavours can vary from sweet to dark chocolate, coffee, caramel, roasted grains or boozy hints of the spirit barrels. Most of them all look similarly dark, but the difference in flavour will surprise you! The oatmeal stout stands out for its creamy character and rather dry taste with some potential spicy notes thanks to the addition of the oats.
So I filled my glass with the pitch black stout and saw a white creamy head slowly settling at the top of my glass. I took a good sniff and could perceive some roasted coffee, dark chocolate and some subtle smokey notes as well. The first sip was a pure delight. Creamy, silky-soft texture, dark chocolate bitterness with hints of coffee and some subtle spicy notes. The finish was bone-dry and absolutely lovely. I could hardly perceive any sweetness. The alcohol volume is with only 5.5% on the lower side, making this an easy drinker indeed. As is typical, especially with dark beers, the flavour evolved a bit, as the beer was slightly warming in the glass. About 15 minutes later, I could taste some additional spiciness and also a slightly sour touch. Utterly lovely drink that warmed me during a rather rainy and chilly May evening. I’d take this over any chocolate dessert every day, but I feel that pairing the two would be even a better idea.
That was a lovely dark intermezzo between the many summer beers I’ve had so far on my balcony. Cheers!
